Forwarded below is the official online newsletter
dedicated to our sister in Islam, Dr. Aafia Siddiqui,
published by the Siddiqui family. This edition
contains the first public statement made by Aafia's
oldest son, Ahmed. There is also a link to a moving
address delivered by Aafia's sister, Dr. Fouzia
Siddiqui, in which she draws thought-provoking
parallels between her young sister and the
quasi-sovereign nation of Pakistan.

For anyone who may have a problem with the link, here
is the address in its entirety.

Aafia, The Daughter; Pakistan, The Motherland

By Dr. Fauzia Siddiqui

August 14th and Pakistan’s Independence Day. This day
is supposed to mark the rule of the will of the people
of Pakistan – that we freely choose our rulers and
they do our bidding for the People’s best interests.
It is supposed to mark the fact that we are a free
nation where we can live in peace and harmony, follow
our religious beliefs as we will, our children can get
the best of education without discrimination of race
and creed. We are Pakistanis and that is enough. This
day also signifies that our daughters and sisters,
wives and mothers, will be protected and kept safe
from harm. That we stand proud of our ideology as a
sovereign Islamic Nation.

14th August 2010 marks the 8th year of independence
celebration after the abduction of Aafia and
her children, and the continued captivity of Aafia and
the unknown fate of Suleiman. It also marks the 9th
year of torture, rendition and war-crimes committed in
the name of a so called “war on Terror”. Dr. Aafia
Siddiqui is a Pakistani Citizen, born in Pakistan,
after completing her PhD s returned to her motherland
only to be rendition with her three little children...
This year as I drove around the major cities of
Pakistan I saw a picture of a beautiful innocent
looking woman and an inset of a tortured haggard woman
with the caption “Dr Aafia Siddiqui, daughter of the
Nation”. Banners around the country with slogans
“Free Dr. Aafia Daughter of Pakistan”. I realized
Aafia Siddiqui has now become the symbolic daughter of
this whole nation; I wondered what does that signify.

Why would it be that Aafia would become that
symbol? And the more I thought and researched it
dawned on me that it is no accident that fate chose
her to become the daughter of Pakistan. What has
happened to her, it seems, is exactly what happens to
her motherland. The fate of both is inescapably
linked. Here are some very vivid examples:

1. For 5 years Aafia was locked away in some secret
detention, betrayed by her own and manipulated by
others for their own aims. During this time, Pakistan
too was secretly being shackled and manipulated and
betrayed by those trusted to protect it. As the
daughter was treated, so was the motherland.

2. Pakistan was declared the most dangerous place
in the world and its people demonized as threats.
Aafia was declared the most dangerous woman in the
world and demonized with fabricated proof. Again, the
daughter and nation were made to share the same
labels.

3. Then since 2008, we have seen open humiliation
and public destruction of Aafia, and so have we seen
the open and horrendous destruction of Pakistan and
the terrorization of its people. As the daughter is
tortured so too the nation is torn apart.

4. Just as Aafia has been betrayed by those who
were supposed to defend and protect her interests,
even close relations, so too has this nation been
betrayed by those who are supposed to uphold its
interests, even those entrusted by sworn oaths. As the
daughter is betrayed, so is the nation.

5. The same people who claim to give “justice” to
Aafia on their own terms are the same people who offer
“aid” and “support” to Pakistan for their own aims.
As the daughter is shamefully convicted, so is the
nation indicted and shackled.

6. Aafia is humiliated through strip searches and
denied access to family. So too now all Pakistanis are
“specially searched” and access to the homeland
considered suspicious. As the daughter is humiliated,
so is the whole nation.

7. The injustice in the verdict against Aafia was
clear, but there was silence except from the brave
few. The accusations against Pakistan are just as
unfair but the silence of our “friends” is deafening
except for the few. Just as the daughter learns who
are true [friends], so does the nation.

8. I could go on, but what I want to point out is
that these things are not made up but have been
witnessed by everyone. That is why intuitively the
Pakistani people know that Aafia’s fate is Pakistan’s
fate. It is not about guilt or innocence. It is the
strange bond between a person and the land and people
she loved. The bond of a daughter with her mother; if
we fail her, we WILL fail ourselves.

Aafia does not belong to Karachi or Lahore or
Quetta or Peshawar. She is not of Sind or Punjab or
Frontier or Baluchistan. She is and has always been a
Pakistani. What happened to her and continues to
happen to her is a fate shared with the whole nation.
Look at what has happened to Pakistan since she was
taken to America. What part of Pakistan has been
spared?

Those that are responsible for Aafia’s misery are
the same whose actions are now spreading misery across
the whole nation. No wonder the whole nation
recognizes this and sees in Aafia the personification
of the motherland.

I must add that faith too has an important role,
both for the survival of Aafia and Pakistan. As we
know, the religious eddicts of all major religions
hold the honor of women sacred. As Aafia’s honor is
attacked the nation begins to disintegrate from
natural calamities. It is a sad but undeniable fact

It is clear that those who are against Aafia’s
interests cannot be for the interests of Pakistan.
This sounds like a slogan, but it is becoming clearer
every day. The strange link between motherland and
daughter is more than just symbolic. So, do we take
this and despair because there seems no way out?

The answer is NO. Because it is this very link
that will save both the motherland and the daughter.

a. Those that seek to destroy Pakistan tried to
kill Aafia. But she is still alive, and so our nation
is still in one piece.

b. Aafia has been tortured with the worst kind of
abuse using her children. She is still standing,
damaged but resilient. The nation has been battered
more than any other in this war of terror. But it is
still standing and resilient and we finally see hope
of unity.

c. Aafia’s children were taken away from her. So
too, this nation has lost a whole generation due to
lack of education and hope. But we now have Aafia’s
son back and he will recover. So we now realize the
value of our youth, and the next generation shall
recover.

d. Aafia is in a physical American prison
supposedly for life. The nation is in an economic and
political American made prison seemingly for life.
Only the same resolve and national loyalty that can
free Aafia from her physical prison can free the
nation from its mental and economic prison. I believe
that people finally recognize this fact.

e. This is why we have hope because, in Aafia, God
has shown us a simple way to judge our national
resolve. We now have a simple case where success or
failure is easy to measure, where performance of
everyone involved can be clearly evaluated and where
loyalty can be tested. IT IS AMAZING THAT THE
SUFFERING OF THE DAUGHTER HAS PROVIDED HER NATION WITH
A SIMPLE LITMUS TEST TO SEE WHO IS FOR PAKISTAN AND
WHO STANDS FOR SOMETHING ELSE. Aafia only has meaning
for PAKISTAN as a whole, for ALL its people and she
cannot be freed unless the entire nation unites. It
cannot be Partisan or regional or ethnic or class
based. She has no independent flag or politics. Her
flag is the Pakistani star and crescent and her
politics is the vision of Quaid-e-Azam.

I would like to summarize by saying that Aafia has
brought home to us the true value of the motto that
Quaid-e-Azam gave us: FAITH, UNITY DISCIPLINE. Her
situation and suffering and that of the nation has
shown us what happens when we lose these elements. To
restore her freedom and our dignity, we must have
FAITH in God and ourselves, we MUST be UNITED as
Pakistanis and we must act with DISCIPLINE to achieve
goals that are in OUR interests – Goals that solve OUR
economic problems, provide security for PAKISTANIS,
and eliminate OUR inferiority complex.

Finally, to end, I would like to add a fourth
component that Aafia strongly believed in:
OPPORTUNITY. Aafia dedicated her life to education
because she believed that the best legacy a society
can leave its future generations is not wealth but
better opportunities.

So, this August 14th let us resolve to have FAITH
in ourselves, UNITE for a common cause to free Aafia
and her children and to act with DISCIPLINE to save
Pakistan so that we can create a nation where our
children will have abundant OPPORTUNITY and will not
have to stand in humiliating lines for foreign visas